This invention relates to a firearm that is held and fired with one hand. Such firearms are often referred to as handguns or pistols.
A pistol formed in accordance with this invention features enhanced safety, ease of use, and superior performance over prior designs. The pistol opens swiftly into the ready-to-fire position, which may be accomplished with a single hand. The overall design of the pistol is such that the manipulation of the pistol into and out of the open, ready-to-fire position can be accomplished with a user having relatively small hands and/or relatively low grip strength. Exemplary advantageous aspects of the invention include:                (a) a pistol that is easily reconfigured from an open, ready-to-fire position to a closed or collapsed position that makes the pistol quite compact, safe, and readily concealable;        (b) a safety interlock that disables operation of the pistol's firing mechanisms as soon as the pistol is released from the ready-to-fire position for reconfiguration in the closed position;        (c) a magazine that is integrated with the pistol to extend along and above the length of the barrel;        (d) locking features that prevent access to the pistol or magazine when the pistol is in the closed position;        (e) a breech lock system to keep the breech closed after firing until the barrel has fully recoiled, thereby to reduce the recoil reaction felt by the user and to maintain the internal cleanliness of the pistol;        (f) a hammer and firing pin assembly that, among other features, enhances the compactness of the pistol configuration;        (g) a frame that encloses substantially all of the slide assembly to prevent injury from the high-velocity motion of that assembly that occurs during recoil and return;        (h) a system for transporting cartridges from the magazine above the barrel to the breech end of the barrel;        (i) a side-loading magazine that significantly reduces, as compared to prior magazines, the amount of force required for fully loading the magazine with cartridges;        (j) an indexing system for precisely moving cartridges through the magazine during operation of the pistol; and        (k) a cartridge shell ejector system for safely ejecting spent cartridge shells downwardly through a cavity in the handle of the pistol.        